Dry pipe valve



July 7, 1953 -A. c. ROWLEY DRY PIPE VALVE Original Filed July 21, 1950Llcr. i;

. ,tem (not shown);

Patented July 7, 1953 "UNITED srATE s PATENT OFFICE DRY PIQPE, VALVEArthur C. Rowley, Drexel Hill,.1'a., asslgnor to Globe AutomaticSprinklerCompany of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation ofPennsylvania Original application 'July f 175,151, now Patent No.

21, 1950, Serial No. 2,586,720; dated February 19, 1952., ,Divided andthis application June 29, 1951,'Serial No. 234 276 This application is adivision of my prior appli- 8 Claims. (01. 137 -312) cation 175,151,filedJuly 21, 1950, for .Dry Pipe Valve, which matured into Patent2,586,220,.Feb.

ruary 19,.1952.

This invention relates systemssaid valves functioning to separate thesprinkler system from the water supply main under normal conditions andcomprising means operative automatically as a result of the opening of:one or more of the sp'rinklerheads of said systemto release the valveelement for actuation by pressure of the water in the main to admit thewater to the previously dry system.

It has been customary to provide valves of this class with rubber orothergaskets of more or less 1 to an improvement valves of the typeemployed in dry pipe sprinkler conventional form which maybe readilyreplaced in the event of deterioration after'extended pe- 4 riods ofuse. These gaskets; while, functionally adequate, have been subject torelatively rapid deterioration and consequent leakage, and being ofrelatively simple form, have frequentlybeenreplaced-by maintenance menwith extemporized gaskets cutfrom available materials and usuallyentirely inadequate for eflicient operation, under upon the upper end ofa bushing l5 which is threaded into the inner end of the inlet port l6of the casing which communicates with the main.

"When thus seated, the clapper separates the main from the chamber If!in the upper portion of the valve casing which communicates with the'drypipe sprinkler system. I"he clapper is normally maintained in seatedposition against the pressure of the water in the main by a latchinglever is which is pivotally mounted at 9 in the casing and which engagesthe outer end of the arm |3 as indicated at 20, said lever beingoperative by a means not shown and comprising no part of the presentinvention to engage the arm |3 under normal conditions and. to releasethe arm under conditions resulting from the opening of one or more ofthe sprinkler heads of the system.

When thus released, theclapper I2 is forced by the pressure of the waterinthe main It to a posi-' the' conditions to which the valveis-subjectedin 1 service;

"Ihis replacement of the original gasket by inferior'g'askets hascreated an impression of I inadequacy in the valve structure as a whole.

An object of the, present invention is to provide a highly. efiicientform of gasketand associated valvesstructure departing sufliciently fromthe tion shown in broken lines in Fig. 1, thereby admittingwater to thesprinkler system.

The bushing I5 is provided 23, said recess extending continuously aroundthe circumference ofthe bushing. At one side the bushing has avport 24which opens outwardly from the recess 23,- said port being threaded forreception of one end of a pipe'25 the'outer end of which ext'endsthroughan o'peningh26 in the wall of the casing H and communicates with theinterior of a fitting 21 attached to the outer side Y of said wall for apurpose more fully set forth conventional to efiectively precludereplacement 1 by extemporized gaskets or by any gasket other than thatprovided by themanufacturer'for the specific purpose.

A further object of the invention-is to provide a valve having; superiorfunctional properties as hereinafter set forth. and as illustratedv inthe 7 7 attached drawings, wherein Fig. l is an enlarged fragmentarysectional view of a dry pipe valve made in accordance with theinvention, and

Fig.2, is an exploded view' in'persp'ectiveof the: gasket device, theelements of the device ,beingi broken'away in part to morelcle'arlyillustrate.

their structural form;

With reference to the drawings, the valve comprises the usual casing Hwhich in service is 4 attached at the bottom to'a water supply pipe ormain and at the upper end to the sprinkler sys- Within the casing II isa valve element 12 which is mounted upon an arm |3 pivotally supportedat M in the casing. Normally the valve element or clapper l2 will seatbetween the seating surface 2| of the bushing l5 hereinafter. Theopening 26 is sealed by means I ofja' suitable stuffing box 28.

The valve element I2 is cup shaped and has at its rim an annular seatingsurface 29 which is 1 arranged for registration with and confronts theseat 2| of the bushing l5 when the valve element is seated. The valveelement also has'at the center of its cuppedcavity 32 a depending boss33 which is provided with a tapped recess 34. The

inner endof this recess lies within a protuberance 35 at the top of thevalve body. A disc 36 is secured against the lower face of the boss-33by means of a screw 3'! threaded into the tapped-hole 34 as illustratedin Fig. 1.

Inacco'rdance with the invention, I provide a cup shaped gasket 38 whichis fitted to the cavity 32 and which hasa central aperture 39 for thedepending cylindrical boss 33. The gasket 38 has at its outer edge orrim an outwardly projecting flange 4! which overlies the rim 3| sothatwhen the valve is seated; this flange will be confined and the opposedseating surface 29 of the valve with concentric seats 2| and 22 whichare separated by a recess element. The gasket also comprises at itsouter edge an inwardly projecting flange 42 which, when the valve isseated, contacts the inner seatingsurface ,22.,of the bushing. The,gasket also'has anannular flange M which projects downwardly centrallybelow the flanges 41 and 62 and is arranged to enter the recess 23 in,..

spaced relation to both the inner and outer side walls of that recess.The gasket place in the cavity 32 by the. disc 33 which, as.

shown in Fig. 1, extends radiallyoventhielower is held in surface of thegasket to a position overlying .th V

flange :32.

Preferably, the gasket 38 is formed as illustrated in 2 of threeelements: anouter cupshaped element 4% which may be offlexible .rub-

ber or other suitable material which has.

its outer edge or rim and integral therewith the out-turned flange ii;an inner cup shaped-ele ment 45, this element also being composed ofresilient rubber; or other suitable gasketmate rialv and having integraltherewith the inturned flange;.42-; and an intermediatencup shaped,element 4S, this element beingmade of relatively thin'metalorother-suitable rigid or semi-rigid material-and having as arr-integralpart thereof thedepending flange-43. In assembly, these elements areheldtogether by means of the clamping disc 55. They may be readily removedfrom the cavity 32 of the valve element by removal of the screw 3'! andvdisc 36 for replace ment-of all or any of the component cup shapedelements;

Normally the flanges H and 52 assume slightly inclined positions asillustrated in Fig. 2,. so that,

when the valve element. is moved to the seated position,theflangesandeZ. will contact the.

seatingsurfaces 2i and 22 of thevalve seat bushing i and willbedeflected to thevtrne radial position shown in Fig. 1. accurate seating.of the flanges -on,thev seating surfaces is. assured. As previouslysetforth, the flangev 4!. is confined between the opposed S3311,- ingsurfaces 2! and 29, whereas the, flange 42 By thisvmeans. 1

engagesthe .seat ,22 freely and by its own resiliency.

Inpractice, when the valve is seated, the water pressure of the -mainwill,tend to retain the flange A2 forcibly. against the seating surface22. Any small leakage past the. seat 22 will contact the dependingflange 45 and willflow down:

wardly on thisflange and be deposited in the,

From thisrecess such bottomof .therecess 23.

leakage will pass outwardly through .p0rt 24.

and pipe tothe .fittingii, said. fitting being rim thereof forconfronting registration with theouterof said seats, and a cup shapedgasket.:means mountedinthe interior cavity of said valve'elementandhaving an outwardly projecting flange overlying said rim for confinementbetween the said outer seat and the said seatingxsurfa'ce when the valveelement is seated,

together with a second flange projecting inwardly 'for sealingengagement when the valve element is seated with the inner of saidseats.

- 2.,.A: ;dry;pipe valve according to claim 1 wherein the inward flangeis exposed in the 'spacesbelow the valve element for retention on itsseat by. fluid pressure within saidv space;

3.: A dry. pipe valve according to claim- 1 wherein the gasket meansincludes an annular flange depending, below and intermediate saidflanges; into the space between the concentric seats of the valve seatmember.

4. A dry pipe, valve according toclaim 3 wherein the depending flange isspaced from both walls of they saidspace between the concentric seats. 7

5.'A dry pipe valve 1 according to claim 4 wherein the said space isprovided with a disconnected to a suitablealarm, notshown which isactuated by apredetermined.accumulation of.

water in the fitting, Moisture isthus diverted from the gasketedjointbetween the. seatingsurfaces 2! and 29.

The above-described valve and gasket assem-- blyiisa highly efficientone capable of preventing: material leakage either of water from themain or air from the dry pipe system over extended periods of time.Also, since the elements of the gasket are of the special molded form,theycannot readily be replaced by, extemporized charge'opening to theoutside of the valve.

6. A dry pipe valve according to claim 1 wherein the gasket comprisestwo cup-shaped elements nesting one within the other, the said outwardand inward flanges being carried by the respective elements.

7. A dry pipe valve according to claim 6 wherein the gasket-meansincludes also a thirdcup-shaped element nested between the said flangedelements and having an annular rim portion--projecting beyond the outerfaces of said flanges soas to project into the space between the seatsof the valve seat'member.

8; As a new article of manufacture,-a=gasket comprising-a plurality ofcup-shaped and inter nested elements,'the outer and inner of said ele--ments being composed of flexible gasket mate'- rial-and each having atits'rim an integraltrans verse-flange extending outwardly "and inwardlyfrom said rim respectively; and saicl'outer: and. inner elementsbeingseparated by an interme-" diate elementof relatively stiffmaterialtheannular rim portion of-which extends beyondfithes outer facesof said flanges.

ARTHUR CIIROWLEY.

References-Cited in; the ,file of this patent;

UNITED STATES PATENTS 4 Number Name. Date.

1,045,619 Schweitzer Nov. 26, 19,12; 1,185,041 Ashley YMayBO, 19161,869,204 Lowe ..July 26, 1932 2,266,421.- Griflith .De,c..,16, 19.41..2,601,021 Smith Sept, 9,.19521

